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“I hoped to get instruction in Yoga, expected wonderful teachings, but what the teacher did was mainly to force me to face the darkness within myself and it almost killed me…. I was beaten down in every sense until I had to come to terms with that in me which I kept rejecting all my life.” —Irina Tweedie, from Daughter of Fire: A Diary of a Spiritual Training with a Sufi Master

I hadn’t ever heard of Ms. Tweedie before happening upon this quote from Parabola, but her spiritual memoir looks like a compelling read. And if you’d like to hear more of the late Sufi teacher, here’s a poignant interview from Thinking Allowed. She talks about the mind as “the greatest obstacle” to spiritual clarity and that an inherent tension exists between knowledge and the mystical path in which “the less you understand, the better.”

Reflections

Very deep....Can the human race even comprehend? We are taught skills but in addition to skills we need to learn more about ourselves and with that we need to accept what we learn. We need to accept the light as well as the dark. I think humans are afraid to see themselves.

This makes complete sense to me. And that is my burden also. I am deluded with the idea that what makes total sense to me makes total sense to most others. Not true. So how do I communicate this to them? How does Ms Tweedie communicate this to them? I guess you just keep saying the truth and perhaps people will catch pieces of it along the way. We in the West simply must stop thinking we can define and rationalize everything. Tweedie is right - transcendence is falling into ambiguity, not understanding but letting go of the need to understand. Becoming totally submissive to and comfortable with the mystery - and this is the goal of all spiritual practice, regardless of the religious context. One of the most important things she said was you will get the right guru whether its what you think is right or not. Every encounter - blissful or painful - is a lesson about who we are. Awareness is key.

There is a little confusion here introducing Irena Tweedie as a Hindu Sufi. Irena Tweedie belongs to an Indian branch of Sufism. The teacher of her teacher did not think that one should change one religion and convert to Islam in order to become a Sufi. Sufism is the ancient wisdom of the heart and is a path of love. A path of direct relationship with the Beloved. Love is not a religion but a living force within the heart.She was the first woman to be trained in this ancient Sufi lineage. Her teacher asked her to write a diary recording all her experiences with him .He predicted that the it will become a book which will go around the world. The book Daughter of Fire is a record of her training and time with her teacher in India. published by the Golden Sufi Center. Irena Tweedie past away in1999 and her work is continue by her successor Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee. It is so wonderful that you have posted this interview on the Being blog.Wonderful program! Wonderful Blog.Thank you for recognizing the depth of her offering. For more information about Irena Tweedie, Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee and the Golden Sufi Center please visit: www.goldensufi.orgalso: www.workingwithoneness.org